Sumpter parents bound over on charges of involuntary manslaughter

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Angelina Mae Perry, 39, and Ray Thomas Hunt, 34, the parents of a baby who drowned in the family pool on Aug. 20, are facing involuntary manslaughter charges and were bound over to circuit court on Jan. 30..
Sumpter Township Police Detective John Toth said the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office issued warrants for the two parents and they were arraigned Jan. 17 and a pre-exam conference was held on Jan. 23. They were held in the Wayne County Jail on bond of $50,000 or 10% each.
34th District Court Judge David Parrott held the preliminary exam on Jan. 30, bound them over for trial, and then reduced their bond to personal recognizance so they wouldn’t have to come up with the money to get out of jail.
Perry is also being held on two charges of retail fraud and Hunt on one charge of retail fraud, both out of Van Buren Township. They are accused of taking their baby to Meijer’s and putting items to steal in their baby’s stroller.
Det. Toth said involuntary manslaughter carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Toth said it took two months to get the autopsy report from the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner. The case was handled in Washtenaw County because the baby was en route to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital as an emergency and then diverted to the University of Michigan Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Toth said police interviews continued into December and then police waited until after the holidays to file the request for warrants with the prosecutor’s office.
Sumpter Police were called to the 45000 block of Bontekoe Drive at 11 a.m. Aug. 20 for an 11-month-old boy who had drowned in the family pool.
In the days after the incident, Sumpter Police Lt. Eric Luke said the preliminary investigation showed somehow the child was able to exit the house, approach the above-ground pool in the back yard and make his way up the steps, where he entered the pool.